You can catch hepatitis C if the blood of someone who has hepatitis C enters your body. Exposure may occur:

After a needle stick or sharps injury

If blood from someone who has hepatitis C contacts a cut on your skin or contacts your eyes or mouth

People at risk of hepatitis C are those who:

Inject street drugs or share a needle with someone who has hepatitis C

Have been on long-term kidney dialysis

Have regular contact with blood at work (such as a health care worker)

Have unprotected sexual contact with a person who has hepatitis C

Were born to a mother who had hepatitis C

Received a tattoo or acupuncture with needles that were not disinfected properly after being used on another person (risk is very low with practitioners who have a tattoo license or permit or an acupuncture license)

Received an organ transplant from a donor who has hepatitis C

Share personal items such as toothbrushes and razors with someone who has hepatitis C (less common)

Most people who are recently infected with hepatitis C do not have symptoms. Some people have yellowing of the skin (jaundice) that goes away. Chronic infection usually causes no symptoms. But tiredness, skin disorders and other problem can occur. Persons who have long-term (chronic) infection often have no symptoms until their liver becomes scarred (cirrhosis). Most people with this condition are ill and have many health problems.

Most people with hepatitis C infection have the chronic form. Persons with genotype 2 or 3 are more likely to respond to treatment than those with genotype 1.

The goal of treatment is to reduce the chance of liver damage and liver cancer. A good response to treatment occurs when the virus is no longer detected in the blood after treatment. New and more effective medicines are being developed. As a result, more and more persons with HCV are able to avoid serious liver damage and even liver cancer.

Things that can be done to prevent the spread of hepatitis C from one person to another include:

Health care workers should follow precautions when handling blood.

Do not share needles with anyone.

Do not get tattoos or body piercings or receive acupuncture from someone who does not have a permit or license.

Do not share personal items such as razors and toothbrushes.

Practice safer sex.

If you or your partner is infected with hepatitis C and you have been in a stable and monogamous (no other partners) relationship, the risk of giving the virus to, or getting the virus from, the other person is low.

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